A senior House Democrat wants Japan to earn any further reductions on auto tariffs by opening up its market to U.S. auto imports.
House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Sandy Levin (Mich.) called for a "new and more assertive approach to the problem" of solving Japan's longstanding restrictions on imports of foreign cars.
"Negotiations to open the Japanese auto market have repeatedly and totally failed in the past," he said Tuesday during a trade event at the Peterson Institute.
"For generations, the Japanese auto market has been closed to virtually all imports from all countries," he said.
"As a result, U.S. automakers have been shut out of Japan, and forced to compete on an unlevel playing field in all other auto markets, as Japanese automakers have leveraged their advantages at home into advantages abroad."